India: A Million Mutinies

India: A land of enchantment. A favorite destination spot for Westerners who visit palaces in Rajasthan and attend spiritual retreats in the Himalayan foothills. Prior to the global meltdown, India’s growth rates ranked among the highest in the world. Glitzy malls and office towers dotted the landscape. Billionaire Bollywood moguls were cutting deals with Hollywood. Launching moon missions, it was being hyped as the next superpower. There’s that India but there are also other Indias. Income gaps between rich and poor escalated. The number of children suffering from malnutrition in India is nearly double that of Sub-Saharan Africa. Economically-distressed farmers are committing suicide in huge numbers. A plethora of Special Economic Zones, sometimes called, Special Exploitation Zones, have mushroomed. The upshot? A large area of the country is up in arms, literally, in resistance to unjust government policies and predatory corporations.

Speaker

Praful Bidwai was a leading independent Indian journalist and political analyst. He served as editor of The Times of India for many years. His articles appeared in the Hindustan Times,Frontline, and other newspapers and magazines. His regular column, From the World’s Most Dangerous Place was on www.Antiwar.com. He was the recipient of the Sean McBride International Peace Prize. He passed away in 2015.